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REUTERS
They also reject Little Red Riding Hood because they think the Big Bad Wolf eating the little girls grandmother is too upsetting.
London - For generations, children have been captivated by Rapunzel and enchanted by Jack and the Beanstalk.
But it seems these traditional fairytales are on their way to an unhappy ending – as parents decide they are too scary.
One in five have ditched the likes of Hans Christian Anderson or the Brothers Grimm in favour of more modern books, a study has revealed.
Almost half of mothers and fathers refuse to read Rumpelstiltskin or Rapunzel to their children because the themes of the tales include kidnapping.
They also reject Little Red Riding Hood because they think the Big Bad Wolf eating the little girl’s grandmother is too upsetting, with a third saying the story had left their children in tears.
And Goldilocks and the Three Bears is likely to be left on the bookshelf too, as parents feel it condones stealing.
Even lighter tales have fallen out of fashion, with 52 percent dismissing Cinderella as “outdated” because it portrays a young woman doing housework all day.
Many consider Jack and the Beanstalk to be “too unrealistic”, while the use of the term “dwarfs” in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is deemed unacceptable.
A quarter of the 2,000 parents polled said they wouldn’t consider reading a fairytale to their child until they had reached the age of five, as they prompt too many awkward questions.
Instead, they favour more recent books such as The Gruffalo, The Hungry Caterpillar and the Mr Men series.
Steve Hornsey of television channel Watch, which commissioned the study to mark the launch of US drama Grimm, said: “As adults we can see the innocence in fairytales, but a five-year-old with an over-active imagination could take things too literally.” - Daily Mail
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Lolleepop, wrote
Enlightened1312, wrote
Who in the world is dreaming up all this nosnsense. These tales have been standard for 200 years in many cases and I have never known any wrongdoing to be associated with them. As a child I used to uy Dracula-the magazine, we chased the leader two on a bike,heaven knows and yet, no one ever got involved with drugs or the law. I think theuy're heading the wrong way. Then again, who knows, perhaps it is too complex for the average pom to understand, hence the too many questions statement!
Kirsten, wrote
Amanzimtexan, wrote
Let them watch Harry Potter or read the books to them...Sorry...let them sit 'n watch with their blood shot eyes, mouths hanging open totally switched off to the outside world. I have nothing against Harry' yet I too have nothing against the books I grew up with. I don't steal from Bears...I have yet to kill a Suspicious Fox. A girl in a French Maid's outfit named Cinderella, I wouldn't say no too. I think next time interview people at work and not those English (Soccer) Housewives that sit at home or Coffee Shops looking for something to do while waiting to collect their young'ins from Pre-School in their Range Rovers.
boblsed, wrote
The dumbing down of the human race. It's gained too much momentum to stop now. When an advanced civilization lands here in the not too distant future, all they'll find is a planet full of hand-wringing, bleating creatures who shriek at the sight of a spade because they won't know what to call it.
Khalsa Singh, wrote
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